Crystal Foley

Attorney Crystal Foley is a partner at Simmons Hanly Conroy, dedicating her practice to helping victims of mesothelioma. Since 2004, she has recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of individuals and their families impacted by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Managing California Asbestos Cases

Crystal focuses her practice on California asbestos cases and oversees the firm’s California dockets, or cases that are scheduled for trial in the California courts. Because of her California litigation experience, she provides supports to all the trial teams for their California cases. This includes advice and strategy on wrongful death cases, coordinating guardian ad litem requirements for clients with minor children and managing the settlement process.

“I strive to achieve the best possible outcome for the people I represent because they deserve justice for the harm done to them and their loved ones,” Crystal said. “My work helping mesothelioma patients stand up for their legal rights is so fulfilling, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Working Hard For Her Clients

Crystal’s clients are hard-working people who have been wronged by companies that knew the dangers of asbestos. Her job focuses on giving a voice to people who may not otherwise be heard in the justice system.

“I am dedicated to doing the best job I can for each and every one of our clients,” she said. “I believe in the work the firm does, and that belief makes me a strong advocate for people suffering from asbestos exposure.”

One case she worked on concerned a nurse in her early 40s who was diagnosed with mesothelioma. There was no known exposure to asbestos except for the client’s dad. However, her family had a swimming pool when they were young. When the company installed the pool, asbestos was added. The asbestos dust blew into the house, and the family came home to a dusty house. This exposed Crystal’s client to asbestos. Crystal did a lot of discovery, strategy and mediation on the case. The nurse received a settlement from the pool company.

Background and Experience

Crystal graduated cum laude from Loyola University in New Orleans with her B.A. in political science in 1998. She received her J.D. in 2002 from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, where she graduated in the top three percent of her class.

Before joining the firm, she worked at a law firm in San Francisco where she had a general civil litigation practice with a focus on anti-SLAPP actions. She also has experience in personal injury, wrongful death and bankruptcy cases, with an emphasis in toxic tort litigation.

In 2007, she became an associate in the L.A. office of Simmons Hanly Conroy. She gained valuable experience because, at the time, she was the only attorney in the office. “I was doing everything from A to Z. I was going to court, responding to motions, doing discovery,” she said. “When more attorneys were hired, I did less motion work, but continued doing depositions – some of clients, some of witnesses – then started doing expert discovery and expert witnesses.”

Crystal was included among the top 2.5 percent of young attorneys in Southern California when she was named as a 2012 Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine. She has received that honor from 2012 to 2016. She is admitted to the bar in California and is a member of Public Justice (formerly Trial Lawyers for Public Justice). She is also a member of the American Bar Association, Los Angeles Bar Association and Consumer Attorneys of California.